


Settling for Second Best

by trash_personified



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Gen, also possible angst if i start to lean that way, drama and humor might be added, i will probably lean that way, other characters might be added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2019-06-04 17:41:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15152324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trash_personified/pseuds/trash_personified
Summary: Connor could compute any possible past using Reconstruct, and any possible future using Preconstruct. But he had absolutely no idea what was going on or where it was going to go.Well, right now he was heading to Hank's, but that was not what he meant.





	1. Chapter 1

 

Connor had no idea what to do now.

  
The crowd consisted of partly of Jericho, and the large group of androids that Connor had rescued from Cyberlife tower. Most of them were cheering at Markus’ words, but it was fairly obvious by their still bodies that they weren’t quite sure how to express their emotions physically yet.  
  
Connor felt similarly uncertain, but for a bit of a different reason.  
  
What on earth happens next?

  
He was hopeful that Amanda had been dealt with permanently, but even if Cyberlife didn’t intervene again, going from a product to a person would be quite the transition, for both the androids and the humans.

The humans had seemed supportive of them overall, but as Connor was aware from his law enforcement training, it only takes a few with ill intentions for something very bad to happen.

 

Markus stepped down from the podium, his colleagues from Jericho following suit, and Connor was left standing there alone.

Should he join the crowd in their thanks to Markus?

Perhaps it was best that he stayed away from them for now, especially given the few that shot him wary looks, most likely because of their awareness of his deviant-hunting days.

That could cause some problems.

 

  
Making his way in the opposite direction of the crowd, he came face to face with the human riot officers blocking off the area. This might be difficult.

They had been ordered to stand down against the androids, but that didn’t necessarily mean they would just let him leave.

Some of the officers shifted as he approached, tightening their grips on their riot shields, nervousness. Others sent openly hostile glares his way, he chose not to get much closer.  
  
“Hello, my name is Connor, I am the android sent by…”

  
Oh. Wait. Not anymore.

  
“Sent by who, buddy? Those delinquents over there?” One of the more hostile guards ground out.  
  
“No, I am not sent by them, and perhaps you meant deviants?”  
  
“I know what I fucking said buddy. Now do you wanna start something or-?”  
  
“Connor.”  
  
Oh, thank goodness.

 

“Move out of the way assholes. This one’s with me.”

“Hank. It is nice to see you again.”  
  
“You too, kid,” said Hank as he roughly pushed the officers aside, “not sure I was gonna with all that risky shit you were pullin’.”  
  
“It was necessary to achieve the most desired outcome.”  
  
They slowly made their way down through the street, past the scattered cop cars and aimless officers.  
  
“’Necessary’ my ass. I swear you just like making me worry”  
  
“It has nothing to do with your ass, Lieutenant.”  
  
“You fucking-” Hank shook his head.

  
  
They arrived at the vehicle that had been designated to Hank for his detective duties.  
  
“No more ‘Lieutenant’.”

“What do you-”

“I’m not your Lieutenant, I’m your partner. Call me Hank”

He opened the car door for Connor, that was new.

 

“I already call you Hank, on occasion.” Said Connor stepping into the vehicle.

“Yeah well now you’re always gonna call me Hank. We might not even be working with each other anymore after this, you should get used to it.”

There was a moment as Hank punched in the address and they started moving.

Oh, of course. If androids are to be treated like humans, he might not be able to work at the DCPD anymore. He’s sad about that.

“What’s going to happen now” Connor could hear the unintentional quiver in his own voice. Emotions are much harder not to portray if you actually possess them.

Hank fumbled around with the window controls for a minute before answering, indicative of uncertainty.

The detective sighed, “Hell if I know kid, hell if I know.”

It was silent as they progressed their journey. Connor did not have his coin.

 

“Where are we going then? Immediately, that is.”

Hank grunted in what might have been amusement. Connor was not sure why.

“Home.”

“Home? But I don’t have a-”

“My house, smartass.”

Hank’s house. Was that Connor’s home now? He wasn’t sure where his relationship with Hank stood. Were they friends?

Hanks behaviour was generally more distant than most, leading Connor to misread his aggression on occasion. Had they reached the level of ‘friends’ now?

 

“Are we friends?”

“What?” Hank asked bluntly.

“Are we-”

“I heard you the first time.”

“Then what is your response.”

“Of course, we’re fucking- of course we are.”

The car pulled up alongside the curb of Hank’s house

“Oh.”

“Oh, what? And wipe that dopey look off your face.”

“I hadn’t realised we were friends.”

Hank opened the door more aggressively than he needed to, muttering to himself.

 

“I’m glad.” Connor shot out right before Hank slammed the door shut on him.

“I’m glad.” He said more softly again to himself in wonder.

“Hurry up, kid.” Hank called from further down the path.

Connor exited the vehicle and briskly followed after him.

“You can crash on the couch for now.” He wiped his hand down his face. “I need to get some fucking sleep.” He dropped his keys on the bench and headed for his room, presumably to get said sleep.

“I don’t require-”

“Then do whatever you want, just don’t break my shit.”

He shut the door behind himself.

 

Do whatever. What should Connor do? No. What did he want to do?

Some common human leisure activities?

Hank’s house was equipped with a television, but he didn’t want to make too much noise for Hank to get his required rest.

Hank’s other activities involved drinking, gambling, and eating. None suitable for Connor.

Connor registered a slapping and scraping sound against the floor. Sumo.

 

Hank’s dog had waddled into the room, most likely a delayed reaction to hearing the door open. He was probably expecting his owner.

Sumo looked expectantly at the android.

Connor looked back.

The dog drooled in response.

Food. Perhaps Sumo was waiting to be fed.

That seemed to be the correct course of action, Sumo’s tail wagging increased as Connor approached the low bowl in the corner.

 

There were tins of wet food and a bag of dry food. Connor read the labels on the back. The wet food had a slightly higher nutrient value.

He opened the can and tipped it over the bowl.

Nothing came out.

Connor’s brow furrowed. Yes, there was indeed food in the can. Which was good as a complaint to the manufacturer about the can being empty would have been time consuming and difficult to prove.

The wiggled the can slightly, the chunk of gelatinous meat by-products slowly slid down the can.

He continued to wiggle the can until the load landed with a splat.

This did not seem to lessen Sumo’s appetite, he messily scarfed the food down.

Connor should perhaps recommend some of the alternative foods for dogs with a much better health rating. Though he was mindful about making suggestions to Hank’s expenditures without knowledge of his financial situation.

  
Connor headed over to perch himself on the couch. Going over his memory banks to assess the events of today might be a useful course of action in determining his future arrangements

Sumo waddled over, having presumably finished his ‘meal’, and launched himself onto the sofa next to Connor, leaning a drooling head on his knee. Given the amount of fur on the fabric, this was a common activity and Connor had no obligations to reprimand him.

Connor slowly petted the top of Sumo’s head. A positive response. He pat the upper back of the dog next, more drool.

Connor spent the rest of the night cataloguing the various responses to the petting of different areas of the dog’s body, and ranking them in order of preference for future use.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've seen plenty of fics like this before, but they generally have connor's settlement as a sub-plot to another story. But i'm a bit too self indulgent for that
> 
> I'm new to writing so advice is appreciated
> 
> come find some fanart at ciratira on tumblr


	2. Sizzle

 

 

Hank woke up without a hangover for the first time in what felt like forever.

Yesterday was a bigger ordeal than any bar night ever had been. That load of shit was officially the biggest case he’d ever handled, and they’d gotten through it with mostly no-one dying.

Now he had to deal with his partner’s situation.

The kid was free to explore the world now, for better or worse. He was witty and brilliant, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a bit of an innocent dumbass sometimes. He was only, what? A few months old at best?

 

Hank’s heart softened a bit as he walked out to find Connor petting Sumo on the couch.

The dog looked purely blissed out and half asleep, currently being scratched behind the ears.

“Hank, good morning. Are you well rested?”

Hank grunted in response.

“What are we going to do today?”

He looked like a lost puppy, now that just wasn’t fair.

“I need to head down to the office; those idiots don’t know what they’d do without me.”

“I don’t believe they usually expect you to be there before midday.”

That was a new one, Connor trying to dissuade him from going to work?

 

“I need to ask around to try and help you keep your job, you want that don’t you?”

“Of course.”

“Good, now I need a fucking shower.”

Connor continued to pet Sumo as Hank left the room, looking pensive.

What the hell was he meant to do with this kid.

 

By the time Hank was out of the shower, Connor obviously had some sort of idea.

There was some clanging in the kitchen. Something smelled pretty decent, and he hadn’t even had to buy takeout.

He pulled on whatever clothes were strewn around that didn’t smell completely rank. They didn’t clash horribly, so that was a win.

In the kitchen, Connor had obviously decided to try to cook him something.

“I was not programmed for domestic chores, but I was able to access some recipes online that consisted of the few ingredients you had.”

It better not be anything gross or weird.

Hank sneaked a look in the pan. Bacon and eggs, thank whoever is up there.

“At least you’ve got good taste in food.”

“I don’t have any taste in food, but I have learned that anything with a high content in sodium and saturated fats seems to appeal to you. It also contains a reasonable amount of protein, which might be helpful in you day to day function.”

Snarky ass can’t help making a comment on his diet every fucking time.

But it was nice to have a meal cooked for him for once. It had been a while since-.

It had been a while.

 

Connor deposited the can’s contents onto some toast and handed it off to him, smiling way too brightly for this early in the morning.

“Thanks” Hank muttered as he piled condiments onto it.

Connor beamed wider before raising an eyebrow at the amount of mustard that was being squeezed onto his creation.

Hank chose to squeeze a little more on than he usually would.

 

“What should I do today?”

“I already told you, whatever you want.”

“I don’t know what I want.”

Hank paused with the sandwich half up to his mouth. He supposed living an entire life under the orders of someone else with no autonomy might leave someone a little lost.

“Well what do you enjoy then? What do you like doing that others don’t.”

Connor thought about it for half a second. “I like animals.”

“‘Course you do. Take care of Sumo for the day then, he could use a walk.”

Connor looked down at Sumo, who was staring intently at Hank’s sandwich.

“I’d like that.”

 

“Good, see you later then.” Hank licked the remains of the sauce off his fingers and headed to the door.

“Goodbye Hank, have a nice day.”

Hank stopped.

“Here.”

He tossed a coin from his pocket over at Connor, who caught it easily.

Hank ignored the way the boy’s face lit up and went on his way. Enough of this domestic sappiness.

 

* * *

 

 

 

The station was hectic when Hank showed up, people flooded the main atrium, and every officer had at least 3 groups of people waiting around their desk. Domestic cases mostly, people with runaway androids, a few androids trying to get identity papers.

Luckily Hank only had to deal with homicides, and not any of that bullshit. At least he thought so until he saw the stack of papers on his desk.

“What the fuck is this?!”

Captain Fowler was across the room and looked pretty harried.

“It’s your job is what it is, now shut up and do it or I’ll get someone else in here to replace you! Am I clear?”

Probably best not to mess with him today.

“Crystal, Sir.”

 

Unexpectedly, the files on his desk were not overflow from other agents. They were indeed homicide cases.

Hank grew more and more disturbed as he flipped through them.

Turns out that not all of the liberated androids were as peaceful as Connor’s lot.

Plenty of the androids had immediately turned on their owners, particularly the ones with a history of frequent damage reports.

This was going to be a legal nightmare. Was this in self-defence? Did it matter if it happened before or after the treaty?

Hank did not feel equipped to deal with this.

Time for a morning coffee break.

 

The officers themselves seemed a bit more frantic than usual as well, there didn’t seem to be any android assistants around, and he wasn’t sure if some of them were even capable of making their own coffee.

Admittedly the coffee here was piss, the place out on the corner was much better, and they had donuts too. But heading out back through that crowd didn’t seem particularly appealing.

 

Gavin, fucking, Reed.

He had a tendency to hang around the break room, probably because his entire career was a break to him.

Hank skulked right past him.

“Oi, Anderson.”

Fuck.

“Don’t have your buddy here today, huh? Did he run out on you like the rest of those freaks? He never even brought me that coffee.”

Hank was nowhere near as patient and diplomatic as Connor was.

“Here’s your coffee, asshole.”

The good thing about the coffee at the department is that it’s usually pretty scalding.

He’s pretty sure he heard some sobs as Gavin wiped it out of his eyes.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The rest of the day went blessedly fast.

He was fairly busy with all of the research, and hadn’t needed to go to any crime scenes. It was fairly clear what had happened, some had even left confessions.

Maybe it was an android trait to be a bit too honest.

 

By the time he headed home, he was even less sure about what was going to happen with humans and androids.

 

Upon arrival, he was greeted with more than one eager puppy face at the door.

“Hank! Welcome home. How was your day?”

Maybe he should have invested in a domestic android a while ago, this was pretty damn pleasant.

“Busy, but alright. I trusted you found something to entertain yourself?”

Hank would never get tired of the way that boy’s face lit up.

“Quite enjoyable, I took Sumo out on a walk to the park, there were many other dogs there. I quite liked the park. I decided to head by the supermarket to replenish your fridge…”

Hank continued to listen as Connor went on about his day. He helped himself to a beer and settled down next to the big heap of fur and Connor on the couch. The android's shoulder was pretty solid to lean on, but not uncomfortable.

He ought to go about helping Connor gain some independence, and be a bit less of a lost puppy.

But for now he was fairly content to look after his stray, at least until they both adjusted to the new world order.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm aware Connor isn't quite his sassy self right now, But I figure he'd be a little more reserved under the circumstances. Things will change.  
> There will be some plot as this goes on, probably.  
> Hank's perspective is a little hard for me, so the majority of future chapters will be Connor's.


End file.
